Ignoring Employee Problems Won't Make Them Disappear

Posted by Insightlink on 05/05/15

Employee problems just get worse when they are ignored.

And while they are getting worse you can expect to see lower productivity, declining retention, higher turnover, and poor customer satisfaction. So what can be done?
The biggest challenge is admitting there is a problem. The second is doing something about it.

Based on our experience the only way to know for sure what is wrong is to measure it….you don’t want to take the word of your squeaky wheels, you want to hear from everyone what they think is really going on. Choosing an employee survey company may be a bit daunting since there are so many and we know you have a lot of choices for survey companies, so what are some of the things that you should look for in an employee survey company?

a. Comprehensive approach:
Not all surveys are created equal. A true research-driven company uses a comprehensive approach to surveying employees; one that digs in and explores how your employees connect to their work, to the management of the organization (both their direct supervisors and senior levels of management), to their colleagues, to your mission, vision and values from all of those different angles.

b. Benchmark data:
If they compare your data and benchmark your results to their own client data that is a big RED flag. A reputable research company does not use client data for norms. It’s erroneous and not representative to compare your results to other companies who are conducting surveys with the same company you are. At Insightlink, for example, we compare and benchmark you and your results against our independently commissioned data. We do not use client data for norms, because that does not provide you with an accurate and representative summary of attitude and opinions of employees in your industry. We actually go out and collect our own survey data every year in the fall and that’s what we use for comparisons with your results. Your data would never appear in our normative benchmarks and it shouldn’t with any other survey company either. You own the survey data.

c. Ask the right questions:
A lot of surveys ask a lot of backward-looking questions about how things have been in the past. How did things get to this point? But we find there is also value in looking ahead and measuring momentum and giving employees the chance to reflect on whether or not their experience at the organization is improving and the organization itself is moving in a positive direction. We see often one of the key drivers in job satisfaction can just be the feeling that your organization is moving forward in a positive way. People like to be a part of favorable change; that is often a key factor. That’s often one of the things that distinguish us, we don’t just look backwards in the survey we also take a few opportunities to also look forwards.

d. We created the Loyalty Matrix:
The 4Cs are the model we have developed for measuring employee engagement: and they are Commitment, Culture, Communication and Compensation. Understanding how you perform within each of those areas is what give you the diagnostics to know why your satisfaction/engagement levels are where they are and, more importantly, where you need to make change to make improvements so that you can increase job satisfaction and engagement.

e. Actionable results:
Once all of the rich and informative data has been collected, you want to see where you stand in terms of the key measures of job satisfaction and employee engagement. Your results should be illustrated using straightforward graphical and colorful illustrations of the findings; the research data absolutely should not get in the way of understanding. It should be clear what the results are and easy to digest so you are prepared to take the next big step: take action!

Choose an employee survey company that understands your priorities, one that understands that an employee survey can only be a step in the process, and should never be the final step. At Insightlink what we’re designed to do is get you the knowledge and insight you need to improve job satisfaction and engagement, which will help you benefit from all the advantages these improvements bring you.

We have helped thousands of organizations make changes and we would love to help yours. To find out how our employee survey can measure engagement in your organization and provide you with the diagnostics to see what change is needed, give us a call at 866-802-8095 ext. 705 or send us an email at info@insightlink.com.

About

Insightlink Communications are experts in employee survey design, data collection and analysis. Since 2001 we've helped companies of all sizes measure and improve their employee satisfaction and engagement.